Kaushal Lokuarachchi - Sri Lanka - Batting Allrounder

Born May 20, 1982 in Colombo, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, is a leg-spinner, who is also a decent batsman, lower down the order. Like Dilruwan Perera and may other tweakers, 'Lokku' was a product of the Sri Lankan spin academy headed by Ruwan Kalpage. He is one of those rare spinners, who is not afraid to give the ball a rip. However, with the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Dharmasena ruling the roost, Lokuarachchi was, more often than not left cooling his heels on the bench.

His ODI debut ensued under Sanath Jayasuriya's leadership against Kenya in April 2003 at Sharjah. His first Test appearance also came in the same year versus New Zealand. He did not do badly but Murali and Dharmasena were in an all different league. Since then, Lokuarachchi has been drafted in and out of the Sri Lankan team before being completely ignored.

In First class cricket though, 'Lokku' has been a warhorse, sending down overs with equal guile and intensity. He has pocketed 370 wickets in 139 games with eight 5 wicket hauls. He is still a vital cog in the SSC machinery.

By Cricbuzz Staff